Oath at Montjoy
The oath at Montjoy is the oath which dates back to the days of the Unification of Tierra, right before the Battle of Montjoy was about to take place, where back then the Prince Edwin of Aetoria who made himself the supreme high commander and leader of the Aetorian-Cunarian-Kentauri alliance, however Edwin "The Strong" 's army and followers were not too keen of his leadership, especially when proud Cunarian nobles still remembered that it was their proud Cunarian King who was the one who brought up the idea and would had been the one to lead and to become high king of all Tierra instead of him, they didn't forget the fact is that he co-opted them and used their crops to feed their Cunarian troops while their armies are to be under command the mere prince's vassal lords and cousins. The Kentauri on the other hand, was worried that whether the young prince, after becoming the supreme monarch, would he still hold true to his words and will he preserve the ways of the Kentauri and strengthen Clan Havenport's political interests in Kentaur. Prince Edwin was well aware of the matter, he knew that he must act as soon as possible. If he is to win both the battle and the war, he must make sure that his allies would swore absolute loyalty to him. In which he know what he must do: To deliver an oath of promise. And he planned to do that and know where to: Montjoy. The day before the battle, on the fields of Montjoy in Aetoria where it was under Coalition occupation. Prince Edwin gathered around all of his senior lords and commanders and delivered them a speech, telling them how important the battle will be by tomorrow morning. He also gave out his vision of how Tierra would be under the monarchy of House Rendower, he stated that House Rendower would not be a supreme monarch, but the first among highest rank nobles, with the power to govern as given to them by their fallow nobles. He then made the grand gesture of his time, he called for his ceremonial parade sword: a two-handed, ornately decorated great sword made of banehardened steel. He holds it before him, and upon the hilt he swear that he will preserve the rights of the privileged and estates of those holds, he swear that upon it he will make sure that no laws will be able to overthrow the traditions and cultures of the Kentauri tribes, and that no law are to be imposed upon nobility unless the nobility calls for it. ''With that he stuck the sword to the ground, and challenged the rest of the group to pick up the sword. As one of them: the Kenturi Chief Athelwald of Clan Havenport was about to grasp the sword, Prince Edwin made the quote of his life that made its name for the rest of Tierra's history: "Upon this oath swear your loyalty to me; or by this blade strike me down." And thus the oath at Montjoy had laid the foundations of baneblood rights and the banebloods' personal interests that built the Unified Kingdom of Tierra. Up to now, whenever a baneblood who is an estate holder and member of the Cortes has ride with the Saints, his successor would then presents himself at the Cortes, where the King and the successor would again swore the same oath that Edwin "The Strong" had swore on that day where he later then won his great victory, where the King will repeat the remark that their ancestor, Edwin "The Strong" had embolden into the oath ''"Upon this oath swear your loyalty to me; or by this blade strike me down" to the newly ascended lord as to remind them the promise that they are expected to follow their ancestors had did towards the Kingdom as was to House Rendower who had preserved the rights and privileges of their personal freedom. As for Edwin's ceremonial sword, it has been named "Pactmaker" after the Oath at Montjoy, now preserved and used in the ceremonies of recognising a new Lord to the Cortes and to the Tierran Peerage, in these ceremonies they will present the sword that will officially recognise the heir of the lord and to remind the newly made Lord of their sacred duty not only to their own House and liege, but above all: to House Rendower, it was also to be held in the hands of the King himself in every Cortes section when he or one of the Lords of the Peerage calls for an assembly. To everyone of Tierra, it is now widely known at schools as "The Sword of State". Both a symbol that signifies and remind the monarch of Tierra of what Edwin "The Strong" had promised, and a reminder of how Tierra was unified by war and blood.